Why did Marcel Dionne retire when he did?

[crobro]

Why didn't marcel Dionne play on for the rest of his retirement season and surpass Geordie Howe as the all time leading scorer?

Did trader Phil piss him off that much?

He cares so much about legacy little surprised he hung up his skates that early

 

[Bear of Bad News]

In the future, please make your thread titles a bit more helpful than "Marcel Dionne question".

Thanks!

 

[MS]

Dionne was 38 and 79 points shy of Howe's all-time mark. He was coming off a 23-point season where he was (perhaps unfairly) embarrassed with a stint in the IHL. Hard to argue with his decision to retire.

It would have taken him two full, healthy 40+ point seasons to get past Howe and that was probably pretty unlikely when he was already getting dumped to the minors, and already the oldest forward in the NHL.

 

[The Pale King]

The what-if with Dionne for me has always been what if he had played with an upper-tier puck moving defenseman during his (Dionne's) early to mid-twenties. He's similar to Gil Perrault in that regard- usually had great linemates, but lacked that great defenseman to get things going from the back end. Who was the best guy he played with prior to early-career Larry Murphy? Gary Sargent maybe? Or a season's worth of Doug Halward?

 

[reckoning]

A lot of people considered it an embarrassment for a player of Dionne's stature to be playing in the IHL, but it makes sense from his point of view. He wasn't getting much icetime with the Rangers, and was scratched for some games, and he understood the reason was that his conditioning wasn't where it needed to be (he had gained some weight that he was having trouble shedding). He thought playing full games in the IHL would get him into game shape better than being used sparingly in New York. Plus, he disliked Michel Bergeron and was happy to get away from the Rangers for awhile (the coach in the minors was his old friend Peter Mahovlich).

He gave it a shot, but just didn't have any gas left in the tank. But it's understandable that he thought he still play, considering that he had scored 31 goals the previous year.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

when dionne played his last game in '89, gretzky had already passed him months earlier and was closing in on howe (whom he passed early in the next season).

why hang on just for the minute chance to remain number two?

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

Too far behind in goals and Gretzky was going to beat him to #1 in points. Also his last game was in March, he didn't retire two weeks into the season like Elgin Baylor

 

[Jumptheshark]

Dionne's wheels fell off and he was 37 years old. The game had started to change and Dionne was too old to change

He went on waivers and no one picked him up

 

[RedWingsMan1951]

All Marcell Dionne had to do was even just play half or 1 more full season and he would have past Gordie Howe in ASSISTS as he was only 9 Assists away from tying and 10 from passing Howe.

He was 80 Points away and that would have been 2 maybe 3 depending on Ice Time but I would have played 1 more season if I were him but when a skilled player loses his speed he is not the same, just like Bure, Coffey etc.

He still had a great career and can you imagine if MONTREAL had MARCEL DIONNE in the 1970's and early to Mid 1980's when he was in his prime. He was Underrated in my opinion but some say he had all the ice time he wanted on a bad team which helped his numbers which may be true but he would have been a star anywhere.

 

[Killion]

He was Underrated in my opinion but some say he had all the ice time he wanted on a bad team which helped his numbers which may be true but he would have been a star anywhere.

Was he? Quite possibly the most over-rated or perhaps enigmatic "star" player to have ever played in the NHL. How much better was he than say... Darryl Sittler or Gilbert Perrault?

 

[RedWingsMan1951]

Was he? Quite possibly the most over-rated or perhaps enigmatic "star" player to have ever played in the NHL. How much better was he than say... Darryl Sittler or Gilbert Perrault?

I think he was underrated, He played on LA KINGS who sucked and never went far in playoffs. 1 of the bright spots was too watch the TRIPLE CROWN LINE play at their peak, Every now and then I throw on some classic KINGS games and watch them go to work. It's too bad CHARLIE SIMMER and DAVE TAYLOR weren't apart of TEAM CANADA in the 1981 Canada Cup.

Also for a player to be (at the time) 2nd all time to Gordie Howe is pretty dam special even though he did play in a high scoring decades and especially with the weaker play of Pro Hockey in the 1970's as there was 2 PRO League's which watered Pro Hockey down big time. I rarely hear DIONNE's name in conversations with the all time greats, Its always HOWE, ORR, GRETZKY, LAFLEUR etc etc. But I guess it's allright to disagree as that happens all the time in pro sports. Can you tell me WHY you think is Overrated?

 

[Big Phil]

Others have already said it, Gretzky became the leading all-time scorer in October 1989. He never relinquished it. I suspect Dionne was pretty good at math and knew that playing out the string just to pass Howe was going to be nothing special. Anyone remember several years later when Messier passed Howe? No, we forget it because it wasn't a big issue. #2 all-time? Meh. No drama there and Dionne might have felt that way in 1989 too.

 

[The Panther]

Anyone remember several years later when Messier passed Howe?

As you know, I'm one of the world's biggest Messier fans, but the words "Messier passed Howe" should never be coded into our keyboards.